This presentation addresses the notion of ‘critical matter’ and explores how emerging technologies can be used to address social, cultural, and political issues. By demonstrating a series of interdisciplinary projects, the attempt is to show ways in which materials of the environment can be imbued with intelligence and life-like behavior in order to interface with human emotion. The goal is to address the possibility of an empathetic relationship between human beings and their environment in order to augment human intelligence, awareness, sensory experience and influence social interactions. The aim is to address provocative research questions through design and critical making, fueled by the latest advances in the world of neuroscience, cognitive philosophy, computational design, affect, artificial intelligence and feminism. From wearables to urban scale, these projects demonstrate an application of techniques, such as EEG brain imaging, facial and gaze tracking, robotic fabrication as well as novel actuator systems, such as smart materials and pneumatics systems.